A
must have for all turtle habitats, after all even
your turtle prefers a little bit of greenery!And the pleasure of plants swaying in
clear water is an immensely relaxing experience. If
you have fish in your tank ensure that you have leafy
plants along the corners of the tank for them to hide
from the turtle.

Turtles have a tendency to attempt eating everything
inside their tank, including plants. So you need to
be careful that the plants introduced into the habitat
are not harmful if consumed. Eitherways, live
plants rarely survive long in a turtle tank, before
they are eaten.
Therefore, to maintain a green tank it is advisable
to use artificial plants that are easily available
with your pet store. After initially attempting to
eat them the turtles would eventually let them be.
While buying artificial plants ensure that they are
not very delicate or have sharp edges.

We recommend a mix of real and artificial plants in your
turtle habitat. Real
plants are quite cheap, so even if your turtle eats
one every couple of weeks, it doesn't hurt either
the turtle or the pocket. On the contrary it serves
as an emergency meal or an in-between snack that the
turtle can source at its own discretion.

One safe plant that the turtle doesn't
eat is the 'sword plant'. They don't eat it because its leaves are
bitter.

MaintenanceReal plants need no maintenance
except trimming of dying/rotting leaves once a week.
Artificial plants need to be cleaned every 7-10 days.
They should be collected from the tank, cleaned and
returned to the tank only after the water has also
been changed and not before.

The best way to clean artificial plants is to rinse
it thoroughly under high-pressure water stream. A
gentle 'digitization' (rubbing between the tip of
the thumb and the first finger) of the of leaves should
also be done in case of leafy plants. The main stem
can scrubbed gently using an old toothbrush.

If the plant surface is slimy to touch, it requires
a thorough cleaning. If you maintain your tank well,
this would be required only once in 3-4 months. Follow
the cleaning instructions provided by your pet store
or the manufacturer as they can vary based on the
material used. Whatever method you follow rinse well
and soak in clean water for an hour, before putting
it back into the tank.

Plants of varying kinds and colors are easily (and
cheaply) available with pet stores, so choose well.

Stones

Stones
(greater than 2 cms in diameter) form an essential
part of any turtle tank, and add immense ornamental
value to your tank. Properly arranged they can provide
the turtle a hiding place, form a ramp to the land
area, and serve as anchors around any plants.

You can use stones of any type or color. In fact differing
variety and textures make for a more interesting turtle
habitat. But don't go overboard in placing stones
in your tank as they limit the 'swimming area' available
to the turtles.

Also make sure that you don't
put any stones that have sharp edges as they can damage the turtle shell. Smooth
river stones or those found on rocky beaches are ideal.
A few stones of varying sizes clustered around a plant
form an arrangement that looks nice as well as gives
the plant a much-needed anchor.

Always try and put a flat stone in the land area for
the turtles to bask on. You can fix your light source
to focus on this stone. A darker stone is preferred
for basking, as it is more natural, and would heat
up faster than a white or lighter colored stone.Maintenance
Stones need to be cleaned every 7-10 days. They should
be collected from the tank, cleaned and returned to
the tank only after the water has also been changed
and not before. Stones should not be subjected to
strong detergents, acids or other cleaning ingredients,
as they tend to absorb these. It could release these
chemicals into the tank water later, polluting it.

The best way to clean stones is to rinse it thoroughly
under high-pressure water stream. They should also
be scrubbed using an old toothbrush, especially along
the rough surfaces, troughs, fissures etc. as this
where most waste can collect.

If
you notice any green growth or the stone surface is
slimy to touch, it requires a thorough cleaning. If you maintain your tank well, this would
be required only once in 3-4 months. To clean the
stone, rub bleaching powder paste on the stone surface
and place it in the sun for at least 30-45 minutes.
This bleaching powder costs less than INR 10 for 100
GMS and will be easily available with your local grocery
shop. After the paste has dried, soak the stone into
boiling water and keep for 1o minutes. Let it cool,
then rinse it under a high-pressure water stream.
Scrub well using an old toothbrush, making sure that
no traces of white powder remain. Soak in clean water
for an hour, before putting it back into the tank.

Stones of varying kinds and colors are easily (and
cheaply) available with pet stores, so avoid picking
up anything from the roadside. But if you pick up
any from the roadside it before you put it into the tank.

Shells

A water set-up without shells seems incomplete!
So go ahead and put some shells to add form and color
to your tank. The guidelines for shells are similar
to those for stones. Size
should not be less than 2cms in diameter and sharp
edges should be avoided.

Shells have a higher tendency for algae growth, and
tend to turn slimy quicker. So they require more maintenance
than stones. Flat discuss shells are preferred to
conch-shaped
ones as the insides of the latter are nearly impossible
to clean, and would accumulate waste. Shells can be put in one part of
the land area, to provide an alternative texture.

MaintenanceShells need to be cleaned every
5-7 days. They should be collected from the tank,
cleaned and returned to the tank only after the water
has also been changed and not before. Shells should
not be subjected to strong detergents, acids or other
cleaning ingredients, as they tend to have surface
aberrations fine cracks that could absorb these. It
could release these chemicals into the tank water
later, polluting it.

The best way to clean shells is to rinse it thoroughly
under high-pressure water stream. They should also
be scrubbed using an old toothbrush, especially along
the rough surfaces, beneath the curved edges, troughs,
fissures etc. as this where most waste can collect.

If
you notice any green growth or the shell surface is
slimy to touch, throw away the shell! It's
very hard to sterilize a shell 100%. You could try
the boiling the shell under pressure in a pressure
cooker for 15 minutes and following it with a 'heat-treatment'
in your oven at 150oC for 25-30 minutes.

Shells of varying kinds and colors are easily (and
cheaply) available with pet stores, so avoid picking
up anything from the beach. But if you pick up any
sterilize before you put them into the tank.

Gravel

Gravel like the one you find in fish tanks
provides a pleasant looking floor to the tank - but
it is a strict NO-NO
for your turtle habitat,
because:
• turtles have been known to eat small stones/pebbles,
and this can lead to fatal blockage in their
digestive systems • turtles generate solid
waste in much larger quantities than fishes, and this
waste gets accumulated
under the gravel.

To clean your tank you would need to take out your
gravel every 10 days and clean it thoroughly (boil
it in bleach and rinse). The entire process is extremely
time-consuming and unsettling for the turtle too.

We suggest you avoid putting fine gravel stones along
the bottom of the tank, and instead stick to a few
large (greater than 1.5 - 2cms in diameter)
and
dispersed stone/shell arrangements. Try creating 2-4
arrangements using different colors and textures of
stones/shells to provide variety in the tank. The
benefit of large stones/shells is that they can be
easily extracted and scrubbed clean.

If you still want to have an opaque tank floor, stick
colored paper outside the bottom glass of the tank.
Another option is to lay a piece of green/black plastic
mesh (the ones put in windows to prevent insects and
mosquitoes from entering the house during summers/monsoons).
This mesh needs to cover the entire base and should
be held down firmly with rocks, so that the turtles
can't slide underneath them and get stuck!

If you want, you can introduce some gravel in the
land area of the tank, but remember not to use any
stone less than 1cm in diameter, and to clean it often.

Maintenance

Gravel should be cleaned every 7-10 days.
The gravel should be collected from the tank, cleaned
and returned to the tank only after the water has
also been changed and not before. Gravel should not
be subjected to strong detergents, acids or other
cleaning ingredients, as it tends to absorb these.
It could release these chemicals into the tank water
later, polluting it.

The best way to clean gravel is to rinse it thoroughly
under high-pressure water stream. Its recommended
that you keep moving the gravel while it is being
rinsed so that all pieces can be subjected to the
water spray. Alternatively, you can swish with a stick
in a bucket creating a whirlpool.

If you notice any green growth on the gravel, it requires
a thorough cleaning. If you maintain your tank well,
this would be required only once in 3-4 months. To
clean your gravel, add commercially available bleaching
powder to water and soak you gravel in it for at least
45-60 minutes. This bleaching powder costs less than
INR 10 for 100 GMS and will be easily available with
your local grocery shop. Add 1 tablespoon of bleaching
powder for every liter of water. After the soak,
put the gravel into boiling water and boil for 15
minutes. Let it cool, then rinse it under a high-pressure
water stream and let it soak in clean water for an
hour, before putting it back into the tank.

Gravel is easily (and cheaply) available with pet
stores, so avoid picking up anything from the roadside.
But if you pick up any from the roadside sterilize
it before you put it into the tank.

Driftwood

While it can make the habitat much more
natural and interesting untreated driftwood (this
is what is usually available) is an extremely high maintenance decoration.
Driftwood
is NOT easily available at most Indian pet shops,
and therefore you might end up getting it from a roadside
vendor or collecting it yourself from the beach. In
either case it can be fatal
to introduce into the turtle tank without sterilization.Never introduce any driftwood that has
been treated with chemicals, paints, varnish etc. Most roadside vendors sell pieces of
root/trunk as driftwood that more often than not has
polish or varnish coatings - so avoid these.

While driftwood does drift in water bodies - don't
ever try and drift it in your tank! It will provide
a haven for all sort of harmful parasites. Any driftwood
that you want to keep should be placed in the land
area as far away from the waterside as possible -
the core objective being to avoid getting it wet.

An easy & safe
way of darkening the driftwood color is to boil it
in water along with some tea!

It is preferable to put them
right next to the basking stone, so that the heat
from the lamp dries out any water quickly. Also it
would provide the turtles an alternative basking texture.
MaintenanceDriftwood needs to be cleaned
every 4-5 days. It should NEVER
be subjected to strong detergents, acids or other
cleaning ingredients, as it would absorb these and
could pollute the tank later.

The best way to clean driftwood is to dry-scrub it
thoroughly with an old toothbrush, especially along
the rough surfaces, beneath the curved edges, troughs,
fissures etc. as this where most waste can collect.
Follow this with a 'heat-treatment' in your oven at
150oC for 30 minutes.

If
you notice any green growth or the driftwood surface
is slimy to touch, throw it away!

Commercial
Decorations

Most air pump based decorations would be useless
for turtle tanks, unless until you have also introduced
fishes into your tank. Most of these have anyhow
been designed for fish tanks and therefore have
numerous edges, nooks and curved edges that are
a haven for any waste to collect. Additionally some
of them have flimsy moving parts that the turtle
might attempt to eat!

I would recommend against keeping any decoration
that collects waste and would be difficult to clean
- the ideal would be sturdy smooth surfaced decorations
that don't have any sharp or eatable edges. Avoid
any glass decorations, as your turtle WILL
end up breaking it!

You can keep decorations in your land area or between
a cluster of stones/shells so that it has a strong
anchor.

Maintenance

Commercial tank
Decorations need to be cleaned every 7-10 days.
They should be collected from the tank, cleaned
and returned to the tank only after the water has
also been changed and not before.

The best way to clean stones is to rinse it thoroughly
under high-pressure water stream. They should also
be scrubbed using an old toothbrush, especially
along the rough surfaces, troughs, fissures etc.
as this where most waste can collect.

If you notice any green growth or the stone surface
is slimy to touch, it requires a thorough cleaning.
If you maintain your tank well, this would be required
only once in 3-4 months. Follow the cleaning instructions
provided by your pet store or the manufacturer as
they can vary based on the material used. Whatever
method you follow rinse well and soak in clean water
for an hour, before putting it back into the tank.

Decorations of varying kinds and colors are easily
(and cheaply) available with pet stores, so choose
well.